When tools are used in a manufacturing or service environment, it is important that tools be returned to a storage unit, such as a tool box, after use. Some industries have high standards for inventory control of tools, for example to prevent incidents of leaving tools in the workplace environment where they could cause severe damages. In the aerospace industry, for instance, it is important to ensure that no tools are accidentally left behind in an aircraft or missile being manufactured, assembled, or repaired in order to prevent foreign object damage (FOD) to the aircraft.
Some toolboxes include built-in inventory determination features to track inventory conditions of tools stored in those toolboxes. For example, some toolboxes dispose contact sensors, magnetic sensors, or infrared sensors in or next to each tool storage location to detect whether a tool is placed in the tool storage location. Based on signals generated by the sensors, the toolboxes are able to determine whether any tool is missing.
The different types of sensors used in toolboxes each have distinct advantages and disadvantages, and different associated costs. For example, certain sensors may provide real-time or near-instantaneous information on the status of a tool upon the tool being placed in the toolbox, while other sensors may have associated delays. Certain sensors may not differentiate between a tool and another object having a similar weight, shape, or other sensed attribute, and may therefore not differentiate between the tool and the other object being present in the toolbox. Other sensors may not differentiate between multiple similar tools, and may therefore not be able to determine whether a tool returned by one user into the toolbox was the same tool borrowed by the user or another similar tool borrowed by another user.
A need therefore exists for automated asset management systems that leverage the advantages of multiple different sensing technologies within a same system—and with regard to a same tool—to provide more precise and more efficient automated asset management.